{"id":3385,"date":"2013-05-24T08:59:23","date_gmt":"2013-05-24T08:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=3385"},"modified":"2013-05-25T13:35:12","modified_gmt":"2013-05-25T13:35:12","slug":"nuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/nuts\/","title":{"rendered":"NUTS!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, our guest blogger Ambra Sancin writes abut idiomatic Italian expressions that use the word nuts. In case you missed Ambra\u2019s previous blog <\/font>\u2018The Language of Coffee\u2019<\/font><\/strong><\/a>, here\u2019s a quick bio:<\/font><\/p>\n

Ambra is a Sydney-based arts project manager in the cultural\/not-for-profit sector and specialise in communications, marketing and producing public programs for festivals and government agencies. Born in Trieste, Italy, but whisked away to Australia as a baby, she has a special interest in working with diverse cultural and linguistic audiences, especially the Italian community. She professes to have catholic tastes and will foist her interests on you in her blog <\/font>\u2018The Good, the Bad and the Italian\u2019<\/font><\/strong><\/em><\/a>:  films, food, felines, design, musical theatre and all things Italian.<\/font><\/p>\n

\"SDC12817\"<\/a>\"SDC12819\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sopra: Castagne<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Researching English and Italian idiomatic expressions about food for a recent blog post, I was surprised to find so many referred to nuts.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

There\u2019s in a nutshell<\/i>; you\u2019re a hard nut to crack<\/i>; it drives me nuts<\/i>; I\u2019m a history nut; I\u2019m nuts about you; can\u2019t do something for nuts<\/i> and my personal favourite: even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while<\/i>. In Italy, they\u2019re more specific about the types of nuts they throw around in their written and spoken words.<\/font><\/p>\n

Pignolo<\/strong> (literal translation \u2018pine nut\u2019) is used to describe a pedantic or fussy person. It\u2019s also a \u2018fussy\u2019 red grape grown predominantly in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy (and so named because it produces low and uneven yields). <\/font><\/p>\n

Castagna<\/strong> (literal translation \u2018chestnut\u2019) is by far the most versatile and interesting. The expression togliere le castagne dal fuoco<\/strong> (literally \u2018to take the chestnuts out of the fire\u2019) means \u2018saving or solving one\u2019s problem\u2019. How wonderful then that the equivalent expression in English \u2018to save somebody\u2019s bacon\u2019<\/i> also contains food. Then there\u2019s cogliere in castagna<\/strong> (literally \u2018to pick in chestnut\u2019) \u2013 or \u2018to<\/i> catch someone red-handed\u2019<\/i>.<\/font><\/p>\n

The feminine word castagna<\/font><\/strong><\/a> (the fruit of the chestnut tree) changes to the masculine castagno<\/strong> (chestnut tree): legno di castagno<\/strong> (chestnut wood) is very commonly used to make doors, window frames and furniture. At the beginning of the autumn the castagnatura<\/strong> (Italy\u2019s September chestnut harvest) takes place, often followed by una castagnata<\/strong> (a chestnut festival where a wide variety of chestnut based products are eaten). The word castagna<\/strong> is also fashioned to create the word for the typical rustic Tuscan pancake \u2018Castagnaccio\u2019 <\/strong>(made with chestnut flour), although the pejorative suffix \u2018accio\u2019<\/strong> makes it sound quite menacing!<\/font><\/p>\n

\"october<\/a><\/p>\n

Roasting chestnuts at a castagnata. Casalina in Valdatena, Lunigiana<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"october<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the traditional local home made dishes on offer, including, of course, caldarroste (roasted chestnuts)<\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

To say someone \u2018ha i capelli color castano\/castagno\u2019<\/strong> gives them reddish brown hair (strangely, the \u2018g\u2019 can be dropped). And the brown colour marrone<\/strong> is identical to the word for the larger chestnuts which are often glazed to become the sweet marron gla\u00e7\u00e9s<\/strong>. <\/font><\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t been able to ascertain the etymology of caldarroste<\/strong>, the Italian word for roasted chestnuts. It\u2019s such a lovely word and conjures up the sights and smells of hot chestnuts sold in paper cones by vendors on city streets in winter.<\/font><\/p>\n

To herald the start of the chestnut season here in Australia, I\u2019m eating them like there\u2019s no tomorrow. I\u2019m also enjoying using the expression that old chestnut \u2013 <\/i>or even better – that hoary old chestnut<\/i>. It\u2019s a shame there\u2019s no Italian equivalent as it would be as beautifully floury as the nuts themselves!<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Today, our guest blogger Ambra Sancin writes abut idiomatic Italian expressions that use the word nuts. In case you missed Ambra\u2019s previous blog \u2018The Language of Coffee\u2019, here\u2019s a quick bio: Ambra is a Sydney-based arts project manager in the cultural\/not-for-profit sector and specialise in communications, marketing and producing public programs for festivals and government…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":3391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[229367,229368],"class_list":["post-3385","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-castagne","tag-italian-chestnuts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t